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Ino's Devotion: Flowers Over Boys

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"Ino-san...is this really necessary?"

"Yes, absolutely. Now stop blinking so much," Ino commanded, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Have I ever told you how much I adore your eyes? They're so pretty, it's like I'm looking into the moon."

"R-Really?"

Ino smiled, Hinata became flustered so easily. "Yes. Which is why we must emphasize them with eyeliner. It'll make them 'pop' even more!"

Hinata looked down at her hands. "When I was little, I used to be bullied for my eyes. They called me a 'white-eyed monster.'"

"Ugh," the blonde groaned. "Kids are so stupid. What they said to you was as empty as their heads. Okay, I'm using the eyelash curler now so don't be scared."

She placed the tool over Hinata's eyelid, the metal cool against her skin, and gently curled her lashes. "Wow Hinata-chan," Ino marveled. "Your eyelashes are already so long that you don't even need fake lashes." She stepped back and gave Hinata an approving nod, pride welling up at how amazing her friend looked.

Despite Hinata's protests, the black strapless dress suited her so well− tight on top, fanning out gracefully past the waist, and ending by her knees. Its sweetheart neckline showed a teasing glimpse of cleavage yet managed to pass as modest enough for Hinata. A white ribbon wound around her torso, ending in a large bow across her waist. It wasn't like her sizeable bust had any trouble keeping things up... but if it wasn't her birthday, there was no way she could have convinced Hinata to wear anything without the security of straps. Her long, jet-black hair was swept back in a high ponytail, swishing whenever she turned her head to the side. To finish it off, a necklace with a large, single, leaf dangled around her neck; its veins crafted with simple, curved lines.

"I-Is something wrong Ino-san? Do I look weird?" Hinata squirmed under the intense scrutiny.

Ino giggled, her smile wide across her lips. "No way! I'm just so excited to see the reactions you'll get when people see you! Now let me put on a dab of mascara and you're good to go..."

A rapping knock on the bathroom door interrupted her thoughts. "Ino-pig! Are you almost done yet? You've been in there forever." Without waiting for a reply, the door burst open. In the split second it took for Sakura to turn to them, her expression morphed from irritation to awe. "Wow Hinata you look absolutely gorgeous. Are you sure you won't be stealing the attention away from Miss Birthday-Girl here?" She said with a wink.

Hinata flushed red and opened her mouth to protest, only to have Ino beat her to it. "If it's from Hinata-chan I don't mind. At least she put up with me stuffing her into this dress and painting her face." Ino leaned over and poked Hinata's button-nose endearingly; she squeaked in response, only giving Ino more reason to dote on her. "In fact, I'm going to make it my mission tonight to have that moron Naruto be blown away by Hinata-chan!"

Hinata bit her lip apprehensively. "No, it's your birthday, the spotlight should be on you, Ino-san," Hinata reminded. "Besides I don't think..."

Ino waved her off. "It's a good enough birthday present for me if my great fashion sense and styling helped land my friend with her man."

"Yosh! If that's what you want I'll gladly help you too," Sakura contributed, fire dancing in her eyes.

"Sakura-san you too? No, it's okay there's no need! And he's not my 'man'," Hinata mumbled, sighing as her friends thoroughly ignored her.

"Really? Let's do this Billboard brow!" Sparkles glistened in Ino's sky-blue eyes. She thrust out her palm and grinned as Sakura eagerly returned her high five.

"Oh..." Hinata groaned, sinking into her chair.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, I'm already happy that you, Billboard, and Tenten-chan showed... unlike certain teammates of mine," Ino gritted out, grinding on the back of her molars. A flip switched in Ino at the thought of them. "Honestly how could they forget?! After all we've been through! I asked them last night if they wanted to hang out and they said they were busy the whole day. Last time I checked lazing about watching clouds and eating chips did not count as busy," she fumed, still feeling sore about the whole ordeal.

She felt two gentle hands massaging her tense shoulders and she turned her head to see both Hinata and Sakura flanking her sides.

"Don't worry Ino-san, I'm sure they didn't actually forget," Hinata attempted, smiling rather...nervously.

"Huh?" Ino quirked an eyebrow, suspicion rising. "Is there something that you two aren't telling me?"

"Not at all!" Sakura answered quickly. A bit too quickly.

Just before Ino was about to press on, Tenten barged into the room. Puzzlement riddled her features. "Why are you three like that−oh, are you taking pictures? And without me?" She added with a pout.

"N-No we weren't, but we should!" Sakura exclaimed brightly, relived by the change of subject. Pulling Tenten towards her, she nodded approvingly at the soft yellow dress she had reluctantly agreed to wear. Her dark hair cascaded in soft waves, almost to the middle of her back. It may have been let down from its trademark buns, but her hair still retained the springiness from always being twisted up. "I love the dress! Actually, I love the entire look. Not too girly yet still cute, it fits you perfectly," Sakura continued.

"Oh uh," Tenten put a hand to the back of her head, "thanks," she said awkwardly, also drinking in the pink-haired girl's emerald dress and elegant bun. "Wow, you look great too, very mature."

"Yes, yes we all look beautiful," Ino hurried, draping an arm over Tenten's shoulder and smashing the group closer together. "Let's take some group photos and then individual shots and then we can get this show on the road!"

"Ah, Ino-san, if we're in a hurry for time there is no need to take individual shots of me..." Hinata suggested.

"Okay so, group photos, individual shots, then double shots of Hinata-chan so that we can slide copies into Naruto's pockets!"

"N-N-No definitely not!" The Hyūga shook her head furiously and looked to Sakura with pleading eyes.

Unfortunately for her, Sakura pumped her fist into the air and beamed. "Exactly, with an idiot like him you've got to be direct! Except, something so valuable shouldn't be handed over so easily to him," she said cheekily.

Tenten laughed. "Oh come on guys, if you keep on going Hinata's going to pass out from the embarrassment."

The camera clicked, and later, the photo would develop into a picture of Ino grinning ear to ear, Tenten chortling, Sakura fired up, and Hinata wishing for her and her cherry-red face to crawl in a corner.

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The autumn breeze prickled her bare arms, and the moonlight barely illuminated the stone pavement that their heels clicked against. That, however, was the least of her worries.

"Sakura, I told you that I trust you enough to pick up the purse that you left last week...by yourself," Ino repeated. She dangled her house keys in front of her best friend.

"No I need you−erm, all four of us there, because...your present is in there! And we all want to see you open it," Sakura said quickly before continuing to push her like a wheelbarrow.

Blue eyes perked up. "Oh I'm excited! But you know we can go get it later, we passed the dance club already it's right over−"

"Right over there is your house!" Tenten completed for her, taking the arm Ino was pointing towards the dance club and re-directing it forward.

Ino raised her eyebrows. "Is it just me or are these two acting strange...what do you think Hinata-chan?"

Hinata kept her gaze straight ahead and cleared her throat. "N-Nope," she stammered out. "Not strange at all."

"Oh...okay?"

The remainder of the journey to her house consisted of a flurry of confused questions and even more confusing answers. After what like an eternity of struggling, they reached Ino's doorstep and she begrudgingly inserted her keys in, only to find it already unlocked.

She sighed, nudging her door open. "I can't believe the door was already unlocked. Sakura, you could have−"

"SURPRISE! Happy birthday Ino!" An entire room chorused.

Her mouth slowly fell open, unhinging rather unattractively, as her eyes simultaneously widened. Ino blinked, a myriad of emotions flashing through her eyes: confusion, shock, recognition...until finally settling on joy. She scanned the room. First, at the decorative streamers taped to the wall and colorful balloons lining the ceiling, then at every one of her friends who happened to be dressed in nice, formal attire. The entire Konoha 12 had turned up: Naruto, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Sai, even Sasuke showed up. Her eyes darted from cute boy to cute boy before landing on Chouji's bright beam and Shikamaru's sheepish smile.

"You two!" She yelled, tackling them into a hug. "Oh my GOSH. I thought you two actually forgot this year! For once I'm so relieved to be wrong."

"Relax Ino," Chouji said, his gruff voice friendly. "How could we possibly forget?"

"Yeah, and the reminders and hints you were dropping all week were so obvious even Naruto would have picked up on them," Shikamaru stated with an eye roll, though his lips quirked upwards.

"Did you two plan all this?" Ino continued, but not without shooting Shikamaru a pointed glare.

"No, she was the mastermind," Shikamaru lazily glanced over at Sakura who shot back a smirk in return.

"All Shikamaru and I had to do was round up everyone and force them into formal clothing," Chouji explained.

"Easier said then done," Shikamaru grumbled. "Hinata had to come over to convince Shino to ditch the huge jacket. But she had it easy compared to Tenten who had to persuade Lee that green spandex was not the 'epitome of fashion' or whatever."

"And Shikamaru had to trap Sasuke's shadow to even get him to listen," Chouji chimed in.

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"Aww you guys," Ino cooed, pulling them together more tightly. "Thanks for doing this for me," she smiled gratefully. Chouji returned her grin, while Shikamaru averted his eyes the way he did when he was mildly embarrassed.

"Okay okay, that's enough of Team 10's little reunion time," Sakura broke in, pulling Ino away from her teammates. "We're gonna get the cake from the fridge and cut it now, then hopefully we can make our reservation at the barbeque house in time."

"Cake?! Barbeque?! Billboard, you're killing my diet here," Ino whined.

Sakura opened her mouth, most likely with a snappy retort ready, but shut it when she saw Sai lightly tapping Ino's shoulder.

"Hey...gorgeous. You don't need to diet." He looked over Ino's shoulder to see Sakura motioning to go on. Good, he hadn't messed up within the two sentences he uttered. Ino blushed, her own eyes traveling down her red halter dress and blonde hair falling in loose curls. She already knew she was gorgeous, but it sounded better from his mouth. "I read that on birthdays one is supposed to prepare a present. So then I sought out another book for more elaboration, and that book told me a hand-made present is very effective. So..." He dug into his pockets and produced a neatly tied scroll. "I drew this for you."

"Oh wow, thank you Sai," Ino said softly, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically shy. She took the scroll from his palm and carefully unraveled the parchment paper. It was an ink drawing of a bouquet of flowers− each plump brushstroke gracefully swept across the paper and a smaller brush etched meticulous detail into the folds of the petals. "This is absolutely beautiful!"

"There's more." Sai made a motion with his hands and the painting flopped out of the paper, coming to life in black-and-white right before her.

"Wow!" Awe swam in her eyes. "This is so cool, I love it!" Ino praised as she set it on her living room table.

"Hey!" Sakura pointed an accusatory finger at her teammate. "How come for my birthday all you gave me was a hair salon coupon?!"

"Oh? You found that displeasing? I just figured..." He didn't finish his sentence as his face met the scruffy taste of carpet.

"Think very hard about how you want to end that sentence," Sakura warned, hovering dangerously over Sai.

While Sai and Sakura bickered on her living room floor, Ino skillfully slunk out of the line of fire. On her way to the kitchen, she bumped into Naruto's rigid and immobile body.

"Naruto! Move out of the way! I've got to get to the kitchen," she chided.

"Oh sorry, Ino," he mumbled, however, made no effort to move.

Upon following his line of vision, Ino couldn't help but smirk− her irritation melted away. Slack-jawed and blushing, Naruto's attention locked onto the one and only Hinata Hyūga. Kiba and Shino stood by her side, and she smiled politely at her teammates as Kiba waved a green frog plushie and babbled on. If she noticed Naruto's stare, she adeptly hid it. It was more than likely that she was just as oblivious to Naruto's attention as he was to hers.

"Doesn't Hinata look super pretty today?" She teased, causing Naruto to nearly jump a foot in the air.

"P-Pretty? Yes...I mean no, it's not like I was acting like a− I mean...I wasn't staring at−" His eyes glued to the floor. "N-Never mind, ignore everything I said," he stuttered.

Ino threw her head back and laughed. "Whooo. Tonight is going to be interesting I can just feel all the juicy gossip already."

She sidestepped him and had just placed a foot into the kitchen when Tenten called her name.

"I already got it, just setting up the candles for you," the weapons kunoichi said. "Sakura-san was supposed to but well, she got distracted," she jabbed her thumb towards Sakura who had her lips in a hard frown and one arm planted firmly on her hips. Sai chuckled nervously a fair distance away.

The Konoha 12 sang her happy birthday, minus Sasuke who stared out a window and Shino who remained impassively still, and then Ino cut the strawberry-cream cake into slices.

Tenten and Sakura helped distribute the slices while Ino stuffed a heaping portion into her mouth. Moist, fluffy cake practically melted on her tongue. The sour tang from the strawberries melded harmoniously with the lightly-sweetened whipped icing. "Wow! This is so delicious," she popped another bite into her mouth, "Is this pudding that's layered in between the icing?"

"Yup," Sakura knowingly replied. "It was Hinata's idea, the three of us baked the cake together, but Hinata was the one who designed it and remembered all your favorites."

"Hinata-chan," Ino directed her fork towards Hinata. "I want to wifey you. I know you already have your sights set on someone else but, keep me in mind," she said with a wink. The Hyūga had already slowly been turning pink from Sakura's compliments, but now had a full-on blush.

"Sakura-san's exaggerating," she claimed timidly, "we all worked on it equally together. But I ah, I do appreciate the offer…" Her eyes twinkled playfully.

Before Ino could reply, a meaty hand shook her shoulders.

"Ino! Our reservation is in 15 minutes we've got to get a move on!" A panicked Chouji relayed.

"Chouji that's plenty of time−Hey! I was still eating that," she griped as Chouji plucked her plate out of her hand and slid it into her refrigerator.

"Don't worry it'll still be there when we come back!" He reassured, tossing her purple jacket to her and rifling through her couch to find her discarded purse.

Ugh. She shouldn't even try. When it came to food, the normally kind, docile Chouji flipped his personality over like a coin.

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"You guys! We totally didn't have to rush that badly, we still have five minutes to spare!" Tenten scowled, bending over to fix the straps on her heels.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that Tenten-san," Chouji replied, albeit distantly. The sizzling of oil and aroma of fresh meat had already captured his attention.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "All the girls were in heels! Mine are three inches and Ino-san's is at least five."

"You could have accepted Lee's offer to carry you," Shikamaru reminded.

"No," Tenten deadpanned. "That is definitely not an acceptable alternative." However, she dropped the subject.

While the rest of the party shuffled into the restaurant, Ino noticed that Naruto was still a fair distance behind Hinata. Without much debate, she shoved Naruto forward.

"What the hell?!" He yelped, barely stopping his nose from colliding into Shino's back.

"Oops…my mistake," Ino said coquettishly, simpering impishly as a confused Naruto filed behind Shino. Perfect. They'd be seated near each other.

Once everyone had adjusted into his or her seats, Chouji immediately began to pour over the menu.

"Pork belly! Ribs! Bulgolgi!" He exclaimed like a child in a candy store. No matter how many times Team 10 frequented the restaurant, Chouji drooled at even the sight of delicious meats. Typically, Ino may have yelled at Chouji to exercise some restraint while Shikamaru tuned them both out. Except today, she had more important concerns...like eavesdropping on certain conversations.

Hinata was sandwiched between Kiba and Shino, with Naruto sitting across Kiba, or more importantly, diagonally from Hinata.

"So restricting...my insects are getting hot," Shino griped, pulling at his shirt collar for some desperate air circulation. Smoke from nearby tables curled above them, filling the air with the allure of savory meat as well as Shino's neck with perspiration.

"Shino-kun..." Hinata reached over to loosen his tie. "Sorry about asking you to dress up like this. On the bright side, I think you look really handsome!"

The faintest of blushes surfaced to his pale cheeks.

Kiba burst into laughter at his teammate's expense. "Oi Hinata, what about me? I clean up nice don't I?"

"Yes, you look very handsome as well Kiba-kun," Hinata agreed, giggling as she saw pride swell onto Kiba's face.

"Yahoo! You hear that Naruto? Hinata thinks I'm very handsome," he teased, causing her giggles to fade into an uncomfortable blush.

"Kiba-kun! Remember?" She elbowed him in the ribs.

Luckily for her, Naruto was completely unaware of Kiba's comment. "Your laugh...I've never heard it before," he blurted out.

"Oh r-really? I'm sure I've laughed before..." She stuttered, though quickly cursed herself for acting nervous.

"No, not in front of me," Naruto shook his head. "I...really like it. I wish you'd laugh more. I like seeing you happy," he confessed, reddening as he vaguely comprehended his words.

"Hey you two don't ignore me−mmph!" Ino swooped in and clamped her hand over Kiba's mouth, watching the scene intensely.

Hinata smiled shyly, peering up at him through her eyelashes. "I've always thought that my laugh sounded too childish, like a little girl's. It's actually kind of embarrassing."

"No not at all!" Naruto countered. "So cute...I mean." He turned away, his arm moving to rub the back of his neck. "Your voice. Referring to your voice. N-Not that you yourself aren't cute. Not that I was looking at anywhere I shouldn't be looking! Um..." Naruto trailed off uncertainly, looking like he wanted to dissolve into the floor.

From besides him, Sasuke sighed. "The dobe meant to say that you look pretty tonight. Ignore everything else," Sasuke's low, baritone voice filled the space.

"Oh my gosh," Ino half-whispered, half-squealed to Shikamaru and Chouji. "Good thing I'm taking a break from my diet today because those two are sweeter than honey, I can't even."

Chouji's eyes lit up and asked if that meant they could order more food; Shikamaru retained his bored expression but Ino swore she saw a flicker of interest.

Hinata squeaked, face flushing darker. "T-Thank you, Naruto-kun. I think you look very handsome tonight too." Her eyes timidly soaked in Naruto in his crisp black suit, aside from his un-tucked white shirt and lopsided tie, he did appear rather dashing.

"What's going on at that half of the table?!" A voice blared from the other side.

"Lee! How much did you drink already?! We just got here!" Tenten hissed, slapping her palm to her face.

"Don't worry about me Tenten, I'm just enjoying my youuuuth!" Lee elongated, head bobbing from side to side. "Is there a 'who's the most handsome' competition going on over there?!" The bushy-browed ninja abruptly stood up, clutching his head at the resulting wooziness. "In that case, let me contribute my extremely youthful fashion sense." His discarded blazer bounced against the bamboo wall.

Puffing his chest and straightening to his full height, Lee pried at his shirt, popping off some buttons along the way, and revealed the top of a familiar green jumpsuit.

"Lee!" Tenten sprung to her feet and none-too-gently pushed her teammate back down. "I can't believe you're still wearing that hideous jumpsuit underneath!" She sputtered, absolutely mortified.

"Do I win?" Lee asked in a daze. "Am I the fairest shinobi of them all?"

It started with a soft giggle, high-pitched and innocent. Hinata clapped her hand over her mouth when she realized how loud her laughter echoed in the speechless room. However, a boisterous laugh, Naruto's, soon followed. This prompted Kiba's raucous howling, and before long everyone in the room held onto their sides or rolled on the floor. Even Sasuke cracked a smirk and Shino snickered.

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"Ugh," Shikamaru groaned. He immediately stiffened as the cool night air disappeared and was replaced by a hot, overcrowded room, reeking of musky sweat. "Do you really need me here? Can I go home now?"

"Shikamaru!" Ino complained, clinging onto his arm and dragging him inside. "It's my birthday! No one else is leaving."

"That's because Lee is drunk, Tenten's chaperoning him, Kiba and Shino have been following Hinata like bodyguards all night, Naruto is bored at home, Sai is socially inept, and I don't even know what Sasuke's deal is. He's a mystery," Shikamaru stated matter-of-factly.

Ino rolled her eyes. "I didn't need a step-by-step breakdown! I got dressed up for a night of dancing so it'd be a waste if I didn't go."

"That's great, do as you wish. Now let me go home, troublesome woman," Shikamaru droned.

Ino decided to try a change in tactics. Sticking out her lower lip, she said, "Hey! If I was Temari would you still be putting up such a fight?"

The reaction wasn't as amusing as it was with Hinata or Naruto, but she still got a somewhat flustered, exasperated expression out of him. "She is irrelevant. And yes, I would still say no and go home."

Chouji's large hand fell on Shikamaru's shoulder and shook him lightly. "Aw come on Shika, it's not so bad, I'll keep you company." He grinned. A full belly always made Chouji more agreeable. "I don't know why Ino wants you to stay, but there's a lot of things about her we don't understand..."

Despite the implied, backhanded compliment, Ino smiled in relief.

Shikamaru breathed in deeply, wrinkling his nose at the pungent stench of the club, and half-coughed, half-exhaled. "Fine...I'll stay...but only for a little while."

"Aw thanks you two are the best!" Ino cheered, ruffling both of their hairs before bounding onto the dance floor.

"Ergh." Shikamaru placed a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "What was the point of us staying if she was going to leave us anyways?"

"Don't be so down, Shika. At least there are still clouds for you to watch," Chouji said brightly, pointing towards the glass windows lining the ceiling.

Sakura barely had time to register the face as a blur of red fabric and blonde hair crashed into her. "Ino-pig? What gives!" She demanded, cocking her hip and folding her arms.

"Oops. Got a bit overexcited there," Ino said apologetically. "Anyways, what's the news on our cute little bunny and her stupid idiot?"

"Oh," Sakura instantly switched gears, Ino's reckless greeting gone from her mind. "So far so good. He's been unconsciously sticking near her whether he realizes it or not. The problem seems to be Kiba and Shino though, it's like those two are dogs leashed to her."

"Leave it to me!" Ino stated confidently. "I'll distract them while you try to bring Naruto to Hinata."

"It's a plan," they recited simultaneously, both shaking their heads in a firm nod.

Squinting her eyes in the dark club, Ino twisted around until she spotted the familiar chakra patterns of her two teammates. She raced over to them, worming her way through the bustling crowd.

"Hey guys," she panted.

"Ino...? Back already?" Chouji queried with a tilt of his head.

"I just need to borrow you two for a moment!" She said with a suspiciously saccharine grin plastered on her face.

Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged glances as Ino pulled both of them forward. "Oh...kay? Where are we going?" Shikamaru asked, trying to wriggle out of her vice-like grip. He sighed. So much for peaceful cloud gazing...albeit in a smelly, dusty club. Before he could wrack his head for possible answers and escape routes, he found himself shoved right under Kiba's nose.

"Hey Kiba, Shikamaru said that he's really interested in how the Inuzuka's train their dogs. Every step of it. Starting from when they're born."

"What? Really? Shikamaru is?" Kiba questioned in obvious disbelief.

"Yeah, Shikamaru is?" Shikamaru pointed to himself and narrowed his eyes at Ino.

"Yup!" She said brightly. Leaning over towards his ear she all but hissed, "Just go with it! Please! I'll use the Mind-Transfer Jutsu and do your chores for you for the next week!"

She brought out Chouji next, and swung him with so much force that he almost crashed into Shino. "And Shino! Chouji said he'd love to hear about every one of your bug species. What they eat, how they fight...Every. Little. Detail."

"It is quite rare for someone to display interest in me−I mean, my bugs. But if you insist..." Shino intoned; he seemed quite pleased to receive attention.

"I do...?" Chouji furrowed his brow, but was unable to say more before Ino yanked him down.

"Go with it!" She urged. "I'll buy you a week's supply of all-you-can-eat barbeque chips!"

Without waiting for her teammate's objections−or in other words, sneaking out of the fray− Ino bolted out of there and headed for Sakura.

Sakura had been successful on her end too; she had managed to gather Hinata and Naruto together and the trio engaged in conversation. When she saw Ino approach, Sakura readily waved her over.

"Hey! What'd I miss guys?" Ino chirped, not bothering to contain her enthusiasm. Her plan was unfolding without a single hitch! At this rate, she really could follow through on her self-imposed mission to help Hinata.

"Hi Ino-san, are you enjoying your birthday?" Hinata asked cordially.

"Yes, it's been very fun! How about you, are you having fun?"

"Yes, I−"

"How about dancing? Any cute boys ask you to dance yet?" Ino's eyes darted furtively to Naruto.

"Well, um..."

"Calm down Ino-pig!" Sakura's fist bonked Ino's head. "We were just talking about how Naruto should ask Hinata to dance with him." She gave the blond boy a discreet kick in the shins and nudged him forward. "Isn't that right Naruto?" Her lips curled up sweetly, but Naruto felt a shiver run up and down his spine at the threatening undertone.

"U-Um right, yeah, we were talking about it..." He stumbled out, sweat pooling at the nape of his neck.

"Oh what a great idea!" Ino prattled on. "So why don't you ask her...now?" She pulled Hinata closer and fixed her ponytail to fall attractively over one shoulder.

"I-Ino-san, Sakura-san, let's not give Naruto-kun any pressure, neh?" Hinata chuckled nervously, her old habit of twiddling her fingers re-surfacing.

"Hinata, do..." His mouth ran dry. Embarrassment flushed his face, his eyes suddenly finding themselves wandering over his shoes, the neon lights, the throng of people encasing them...everywhere. Except on Hinata.

"Go on..." Sakura encouraged, adopting a more motherly tone.

He hesitated again, turning his gaze on Sakura. With a sheepish smile, Naruto said, "Actually um...Sakura-chan, why don't you join us too?"

Naruto might as well had detonated a bomb. The color drained from Hinata's face, and raw hurt flashed through her eyes before she could think to suppress it.

"No, Naruto-kun it's okay," Hinata tried to say evenly. Tried. "You don't have to. I…I know you don't want to. You two should…stay together. Do whatever it takes to be happy, please." As her eyes darted between Naruto and Sakura, her composure crumbled like leaves in a fire. "I apologize but…excuse me." Before anyone could blink, much less process her words, Hinata slipped away, her petite stature nimbly weaving through the crowd.

"No Hinata! Wait!" Sakura called desperately. Sakura flared to life, but refrained from immediately grilling Naruto with her words and fists as her eyes followed Hinata. She had only taken a few steps in her direction when an idea struck her; she swiveled on her heel and sprinted for the far corner of the club.

Ino pressed her palms into her eyes and groaned. While her heart sank to her stomach, she prayed to all the gods that her friend didn't run off to hide in a corner. Just the thought of Hinata upset made her blood boil.

"Ugh!" She hit Naruto's chin with a clean uppercut and forced him several feet into the air. "Why why why did you have to say that?!"

"Ow! What the hell?" He clutched at his jaw, a bruise already purpling. "Wait− what just happened? Did I do something wrong? Why did Hinata leave?"

"Go after her to fix the mess you made,"Ino demanded, ignoring his questions.

Misery mixed with the confusion already in his eyes. He didn't straighten himself up. "Did I upset her? I don't know what's going on…but I really don't want her to be sad."

Ino rolled her eyes. "How are you so…so slow?! Just go find her and apologize and say you really do want to be with her."

"Nope, that won't work anymore," Sakura commented dryly, with a reluctant Sasuke in tow. "She already believes his first answer is the truth."

"What? I gave an answer? I thought I just suggested that the three of us dance together." He ran a hand through his hair and pulled at blond strands. "And, what is Sasuke doing here?! I thought he went home ages ago."

Sasuke answered with a noncommittal grunt.

"Anyways." Sakura's fist landed squarely on Naruto's jaw in a deadly right hook. Blood seeped out of his nose and it wouldn't be a surprise if she dislodged a tooth. "Explain. Right now. Why you rejected her−"

"I didn't reject her!" He protested from his seat on the ground. He used his arm to clumsily wipe the blood dribbling onto his upper lip, unconcerned with getting his sleeve dirty.

"−Why you indirectly rejected her," she corrected, "make it quick 'cause Sasuke-kun's got places to be."

"I-It's just," One hand automatically moved to be hidden behind his neck. "Okay fine, I was going to ask just her, honest! ...But then I realized that I don't know anything about dancing. Hinata's so elegant and graceful while I'd be tripping over my own feet."

Ino groaned. "Naruto we're not ballroom dancing here!"

"O-Or even making sure I'm saying the right things. I called her a dark, plain weirdo to her face before! And there's another time I even said she reminded me of Lee!" He paused before adding, "Yeah yeah I'm the Village Hero now, but I'm really just a guy who can't talk to girls, has uncontrollable gas, and whose wallet has more air than dollars."

Sakura hauled him up by his bicep and shook him violently. "What the hell Naruto! This is no time to be wallowing in insecurity!" She barked into his ear. "Hinata doesn't care about any of that and you really don't understand her if you think she does! She's always seen you for who you are and not what others labeled you as!"

"Interesting," Sasuke quipped from the side, speaking his first word since the barbeque house. "I'll do it."

"Huh? What are you going to do Sasuke-kun?" Ino inquired.

"Sakura dragged me over here and requested that I ask the Hyūga girl to dance." His onyx eye flitted to Sakura's surprised green ones. "Are you sure I'm the right person?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Your bluntness and honesty will give her...another perspective. Come on, let's go Sasuke-kun."

"W-Wait what?!" Naruto balked, eyes wide as saucer plates. "Sasuke's going to what?! That's totally unfair!"

"No, it's completely fair! You already messed up," Sakura retorted flippantly before lugging Sasuke away with her.

Ino felt like she was watching a drama as emotion darkened Naruto's crystal-blue eyes. "I must have really messed up if Sasuke's the solution. How is that bastard even going to hold her with one arm?" He looked down at his own, bandaged prosthetic. Saliva thickened his throat as pain flooded his expression; he punched the floor in frustration. The resulting tremor rumbled up Ino's shoes and vibrated up her feet.

"Hey! You're going to have to pay for the damages you know!" Ino scolded.

"Whatever..." he sighed, "I'm sorry for being like this on your birthday. There's just so much...crap in my head right now," he finished lamely.

"That's fine, don't even worry about me." Ino waved him off, and then folded her arms below her chest. "But Naruto, there's something I need to know."

"What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "What are your intentions towards Hinata-chan?"

"My intentions? …Nothing? I don't have any−OW." Naruto nursed his arm and whined, "What's going on? Why are you and Sakura-chan hitting me so much today? Girls are so scary…"

" 'Cause you gave the wrong answer!" Ino snapped.

His face scrunched in confusion. "Wrong answer? What's the right answer then?"

Dropping her shoulders lower, Ino sighed. "Do you really need it drawn out for you? In a flip chart? With pictures and captions?"

"Yes. I actually really would," Naruto admitted, nearly pleadingly.

"I don't understand," Ino ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "I thought you were at least aware of her feelings after oh I don't know, her confession. How can you be so dense?"

Naruto squirmed uneasily, remaining silent for a few moments. "Oh um. I guess…she told me that she…she loved me," he flushed saying it out loud, shifting his gaze to his lap. "But to be honest I don't understand it. Nothing in our interactions have really changed, she doesn't act the way I thought people in love do, at least from what I've seen in movies and what the pervy sage forced me to read. Actually, I feel like she's been avoiding me lately. I don't understand," he repeated again. "Does she really love me? What does that even mean? How is it even possible for someone to love me?"

His brow creased, lips twisting into a frown. "But I know Hinata's important to me. Really important. I hope she doesn't think I rejected her. I never want to see her sad, or even worse make her sad…I just want to see her laugh and smile all day, like how she was earlier."

Ino pursed her lips, reprimanding eyes softening. She suddenly remembered that despite his idiocy and romantic competency of a 5-year old, Naruto had a pure heart. "It's not my place to answer those questions, you'll have to ask her yourself," Ino finally decided on. "But I do know that you can't expect Hinata to wait for you forever. The next time someone really comes to sweep her off her feet, it's going to hit you, and it's going to hit you hard."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"It means that if that was what it was like when Sasuke-kun borrowed her, I can't imagine what it'll be like when someone else truly tries." With a wink, Ino turned around, her blonde hair swishing behind her. "Either way, see ya Naruto. I've been standing idly for too long now when I'm supposed to be dancing! Maybe I can find Sai-kun somewhere..."

x-x-x-x-x-x

The cold, hard plane of rock against her bare feet had never felt so good. Sure, she's been in plenty of saunas and day spas, but they all paled in comparison to the moment she un-strapped her shoes. Her 5-inch stilettos had taken a toll on her feet, and while the red heels were cute and totally worth it, her heels begged to differ. She pressed her back against the wall, the shoes she had tangled in her hands clicking against it as well. Her neck tilted up towards the sky, stars shining like diamonds against black felt, and wondered why Shikamaru preferred cloud-watching to star-gazing.

After consulting a little pocket guide, Sai offered multiple times to walk her home or at least keep her company, but she shook her head, declining politely. She reassured him that she was just waiting on Shikamaru and Chouji, both of whom were nursing Kiba to a decent degree of sober. If the Inuzuka stumbled home drunk, his drill-sergeant mom would force him to sleep outside for a week, literally. From the short description Shikamaru had provided, the impromptu reunion of the "dead-last brigade," Shino becoming a new addition, had re-kindled their friendship as they fondly reminisced their childhood over rounds of drinks.

And Chouji, surprisingly, was genuinely interested in Shino's bugs.

"Ino-san?"

The soft question broke her out of her reverie. Hinata was standing primly in front of her, hands clasped in front of her body.

"Oh! Hinata-chan!" She ran up to her friend and embraced her in a crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, how did it go? How was Sasuke-kun?"

"He was...um...okay." She bit her lip. "He wasn't as rude as he could have been sums it up well."

Ino giggled, her laughter warm in the brisk autumn night. "Sounds about right. What are you doing out so late? You didn't go home with Sakura?"

"I told her to go ahead, I needed to find you first," Hinata replied. "I wanted to...thank you, for dedicating so much of your night to try to improve my um...romantic situation."

Ino sucked in air through her teeth. "No Hinata-chan, if anything I should be apologizing," she hung her head low, "I'm sorry for trying to intervene. I can't help but get excited about all this blossoming love."

Hinata took a step forward and placed a gentle hand on Ino's arm. "You did it because you genuinely wanted me to be happy." Her white eyes crinkled happily. "Others may think of you as someone loud and...violent, but they forget that you're also an incredibly kind person."

She slipped a neatly wrapped box, tied with white ribbon into Ino's hand. "Happy birthday Ino-san! It isn't much...but I hope you like it."

"Aww Hinata-chan you didn't have to," she said automatically. Touched, and still at a loss for what to say to Hinata's honest praise, Ino released the ribbon and carefully unwrapped the lavender paper. A gasp escaped out of her lips, and she delicately lifted the gift out of its silk cushion. The base glowed gold in the moonlight, and if she turned it at a certain angle the sparkles on the purple flower glittered like stars in the night. "Wow Hinata-chan, it's so beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it." A smile spread across Hinata's lips. "I know you've always liked the meaning behind flowers, so I chose a broach of an iris. I heard that it means a 'cherished friendship.' I know that we aren't as close as you and Sakura-san are, but I still wanted to convey that I'm happy I've become someone you care about. At least...I think so," she ended timidly, peering up at Ino shyly.

Tears welled in the corner of her eyes and her heart felt like it had been tickled until it tingled.

"Ino-san? What's wrong?" Concern laced Hinata's voice.

"Nothing," Ino tackled her friend into a hug. "I'm overwhelmed by your cuteness and sincerity and wow I must have been stuck with dumb boys for so long to feel so emotional and it's not even that time of the month."

She leaned back and beamed, an idea creeping into her mind. Reaching into her clutch bag, she pulled out the individual photos they'd taken earlier. "Screw Naruto and his dumb ass! I'm keeping these photos all to myself! Gonna hang them in my bedroom, in my living room, in the Yamanaka flower shop, everywhere!"

Blood rushed to Hinata's face at the thought of everyone stopping to look at photos of her in this strapless, moderately low-cut dress. "T-That's going overboard Ino-san!"

"No such thing!"

At the beginning of the night, Ino had set a mission for Naruto to be blown away by Hinata. She may not have succeeded, but she wasn't worried. Hinata had already bloomed into a beautiful person, and was perfectly capable of astounding anyone herself.

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x

Author's Note: These are getting long! I'm trying to tread the line of keeping Naruto in-character to how he will behave in The Last, yet at least be aware of the existence of Hinata's feelings. With the way his childhood was, I believe that Naruto has cliché ideologies of love which are reflected in how he crushed on Sakura, (Posing as Sasuke for that fabled true love's kiss, tying a symbolic red rope around him and Sakura in one of the fillers, etc) and doesn't understand Hinata's form of affection. One of my reviewers, Flameraven, noted that Hinata calls Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun" rather than "Sasuke-san." That is because on the SasuHina page, there's this tiny sliver of text that mentions Hinata referring to Sasuke with a -kun suffix and I just agreed with it. And again, thank you to all the reviewers! :)

Getting into my personal life, I have a lot of exams and job applications coming up, but hopefully I can still update timely. I'm also super excited to see The Last in theaters tomorrow! The icing on the cake is that my jock of a boyfriend expressed interest in watching it with me. He's one of those people who watch Naruto simply for the fight scenes and believes that NaruHina/SasuSaku are obvious but remain indifferent to romantic shipping, so he'll be confused when he sees all the love.